Reflections from Popoiʻa Island / October 16

On Wednesday October 16th, after an amazing greeting by the Kailua community in Kailua bay, Hōkūleʻa crew members paddled to the nearby Popoiʻa island and worked with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, along with Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks on the restoration of the nearby offshore island. The importance of the trip was to visit a location to where seabirds actively nest and to mālama some of the wildlife that help us as voyagers find islands while navigating out at sea.

Amarisa showing us Popoiʻa

Amarisa from DOFAW talked to us about Popoiʻa island just offshore from Kailua Beach. The island is special as it is dominated by native coastal plants, rare for the coastlines of Hawaii these days. The island also used to have a fishing ahu located on it.

An uaʻu kani chick.

The DOFAW offshore island team showed us the various bird species located on island including an Uaʻu kani chick. The island is a seabird sanctuary, like all of the offshore islands along Koʻolaupoko, and many Uaʻu kani actively nest here on Popoiʻa island.

Maiapilo on Popoiʻa island.

Maiapilo, a rare native coastal plant grows on Popoiʻa and is thriving along with other native plants including ʻāweoweo, nohu, ʻōhelo kai, and ʻākulikuli.

Kalisi removing invasive pickleweed from the island.

Our mission for the afternoon was to remove invasive pickleweed Batis maritima from a corner of the island. At the end of the day, we successfully removed all of the invasive plant from our area we were assigned! A great start to the visit at Kailua.